Most NGOs and UN agencies work for the donors.
They don't work for the beneficiary.
And so how do we change that dynamic and that paradigm so that the beneficiary really becomes
an empowered client?
I actually think poor people are some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial people out there.
How do we get the system to support them in a way that is really truly empowering?
We work in many sectors.
We like to go to communities where they are the least served and the most isolated.
In Somalia, we recognize there is a severe drought and we wanted to provide cash assistance.
So you have this global diaspora who's sending money home.
And that is far more than all of the international aid assistance combined.
This is money for food, shelter, education.
And the reason we feel cash is important is because it's a dignified, flexible,
resource transfer that ultimately puts the power back in the hands of a beneficiary.
We're working now also in Northern Kenya and South Sudan, helping over a million people
in these three countries.
I always said well, you know, you've had all these droughts.
We really need to fix the range lands and show people that you can turn a desert
into some forest that haven't existed in over 20 years.
There are communities that have had livestock die in thousands, who now have range lands.
You will see communities that have felt very isolated and marginalized,
finally having an opportunity to voice their issues and their priorities
in community development action plans.
We divided up the group and decided what we needed to do to improve the farming in the area.
In the past we planted a lot of seeds that were poor quality.
So we weren't able to profit from the farms.
But when we received this training and we were able to choose high quality seeds
and we were able to move forward.
So you'll see communities that had nothing, and now they have a school, they have a health facility.
They have all types of resources.
As where before they were just passive recipients, waiting for NGOs to come and just help them.
Now, they're empowered to actually tell people what they need.
At our farm there is no fighting and the farm provides us with the food we need.
We put aside what is needed, as we have been taught and you put aside school fees.
You plan for when the rain comes and you profit from what you sell.
People understand that they have to sustain the environment, and the environment will
sustain them.
Self reliance is the whole thing.
Adeso has helped us with many matters.
We've done so much with them that has expanded our minds completely.
Even after they leave there are so many things they are leaving with us.
The bigger global change that I would hope to see is to change the entire aid system
so that we are more people centered, so we do more listening.
We come to communities with a lot more humility.
I see a world where the decision making forums are not based out of Geneva and New York.
But the decisions making forums are based in the countries where the communities
that are most affected are.
I have no choice but to remain optimistic.
I might not see it in the next five years, but I hope I do see it before I die.